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Motor City Online
Motor City Online (MCO) was a massive multiplayer online racing game released on May 11th, 2001 and shut down on August 29th, 2003. It was developed by Electronic Arts and was initially titled as 'Need for Speed: Motor City'. It is considered a Need for Speed spin-off title since it is based Need for Speed: High Stakes' game engine, although it was heavily improved and updated with features such as per-pixel reflection. EA Games eventually shut down the title's servers on August 29th, 2003. The servers were taken offline due to a degradation in maintenance and a low number of subscribers. Motor City Online received a Best Racing Game award during the 2000 E3. Gameplay Players had the task of reaching the highest rank in the game, Top Ace, by completing race events. It was possible to create a male or female avatar, which could be modifed with a large selection of apparel. The community in Motor City Online could create car clubs, which were located in cafés and diners within Motor City. Customization also played a major role in the game, as it was required to stay competitive to other players in race events. It was possible to trade parts and vehicles with other players or create auctions. 'Game Modes' The game was depicted to feature 24 race tracks and four game modes. Cars were damageable and repairable in the garage after completion of an event. *'Circuit Racing' - Races on corconed courses, in the city and race tracks. *'Drag Racing' - Acceleration races, which take place in straight roads. *'Time Trial '- Run the Top Times and climb the leaderboards to become Top Dog. *'Street Racing' - Turn Around and Lap Races on the open roads. Inside, the game also had Turf Wars, Sponsored Time Trials and Test Drive. *Turf Wars - A battle between two clubs. *Sponsored Time Trial - Time Trials where each Player gets the same sponsored car for the race. *Test Drive - Test drive your machine. Car List Motor City Online featured American cars from different eras until the 1970's with different body styles. Two Japanese cars; the 1997 Toyota Supra and the 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse were added into the game during 2003. Both cars were outfitted with V8 piston engines. The Eclipse had a rear-wheel drive conversion. 'Customization' Customization seen in Motor City Online was highly complex and comprehensive. It was advertised by EA to feature over 2,000 individual parts. Each part's price and availability was depended on supply and demand. An additional suffix could be added to a modified car to describe the car's appearance. A specific number of cars in the game could be converted to open-top cars. Performance modifications in the game included blowers, camshafts and headers. Some parts could not be acquired in the Customization Menu, but had to be unlocked differently. Vehicles in the game could be customised with a high amount of visual parts. The customization menu featured every number plate of the United States. Some European plates such as from Germany and France were purchaseable as well. The selection also included unique paint jobs. Soundtrack The game featured radio stations known as DBOS, DCRZ, DDMX and DDMZ. Besides playing Blues, Surf, Rock and Classic soundtracks, the radio DJs occassionally published traffic reports. The Player was able to insert an Audio Disc and selcet in the options and able to convert/import own music to each station or the Custom User Station with the MCO Music Importer which was released by EA. Category:Games Category:Need for Speed Series